Better Together

REFLECTIONS FROM SHARON AVERY, PRESIDENT AND CEO, TORONTO FOUNDATION

How are we doing—really? Last year seemed like a turning point in our journey beyond COVID as we moved away from masking mandates, faced fewer interruptions and saw people free to move again across the city, country and world. When we asked over 4,000 Torontonians how they were faring, the results were both better and worse than we expected.??

Based on our second-ever Toronto Social Capital Study, we made it through the worst of the pandemic still maintaining our relationships with family and friends.?And yet, 300,000 Torontonians report they rarely or never feel they have someone to count on when they really need it. That number should stop you in your tracks.?That’s as many people as live in Victoria.?

Not surprisingly, people who were already struggling socially and financially back in 2018 are now worse off. Others among us are doing just as well or better. As we well know, inequities pervade every aspect of society with income creating the biggest divisions. And this trend does not show any signs of abating.?

But there is reason to hope.?Through Toronto Foundation people are coming together to give. In fact, over 960 donors now have a fund with?us. Noticeably, fundholders are continuing to commit funds for lasting impact by setting up endowments while more and more are diversifying their philanthropic portfolio to ensure they’re also fuelling vital work now. Reversing persistent declines, more people are also starting bequest funds, stating their intention to leave charities in their will. Winnipeg’s community foundation last year received the largest ever gift to a Canadian charity: a $500 million bequest. Over the last two years we’ve partnered with the Canadian Association of Gift Planners on Will Power, their national legacy campaign, which has already resulted in 1.2 million more Canadians leaving a gift to charity in their will and a projected $37 billion for social good.??

In private philanthropy, the Ivey Foundation announced they would spend down their full $100 million endowment over five years in order to better address climate change and advance the low carbon economy. At Toronto Foundation we’re proud to be an early signatory on the Canadian Philanthropy Commitment on Climate Change and are committed to deepening our focus on addressing the climate crisis.?

One way we’re making good on that promise is by investing more of our assets for good.?Over the last two years we’ve increased our weighting of socially responsible investments from 15% to 23% with an ultimate target of 70% by 2031.?Within the portfolio, less than 1%?is invested in fossil fuels.?While our overall financial returns weren’t as high as we would have liked in 2022, they outperformed many. We are confident that our new strategy is on track for growth owing in part to increased investments in private equity. Read more on our financial outlook from our outsourced chief investment officer, RockCreek ,?here.?

But we’re more than our assets. At its core a community foundation is about relationships, particularly, intentional ones that bridge divides and encourage new ways of thinking and doing. In 2022 it was announced that the Government of Canada was consulting on how to open up donations to groups without charitable status. We’ve been reflecting on our multi-year funding of non-qualified donees through the Black and Indigenous Futures Fund and will be expanding on this work in the months and years to come. Until July 31 fundholders can pool their available to grant through our?Community-Led Change Fund,?which will boost funding to grassroots groups who secure a?Vital Signs grant?this fall.?As always, we know that flowing more money to the small and mighty community groups in this city will bring outsized impact. And more support for grassroots groups will mean a greater diversity of perspectives, ideas and leadership to propel us all forward.?

Righting power imbalances is a core principle of our granting.?Because of their work advancing social capital for their communities, we excitedly brought together representatives of five completely different Toronto Social Capital Grantees to divide up the total allocation amongst each other’s organizations. With the principle of trust-based philanthropy to guide us we loved being able to turn the tables on the old paradigm of top-down,?funder-directed?granting.?

Heeding lessons learned well in the past, we are equally mindful about applying these equity-building approaches inwards. Our diversity, equity and inclusion team led our efforts to measure our ongoing commitments, revisit our operational policies and finalize a new DEI policy. After a deliberate, years-long strategy, we’re proud to say we now have gender parity on our board as well as cultural diversity that more closely reflects the city we call home. Women lead all but one of our board committees and we continue to build a strong pipeline of board candidates to fuel ongoing diversity priorities.?

In a year when we continue to grapple with the long-tail uncertainty of the pandemic, we hope you will agree that at Toronto Foundation progress is indeed being made.?While we will continue to focus our granting resources on the pressing issues around us, I wholeheartedly believe that our greatest strength is in our ability to foster relationships based on common ground. This is the stuff that binds us. It’s where philanthropy can play a huge role, in decreasing the divides between us and in building better futures for all.

We borrowed the title for this report, Better Together, from the American?political scientist Robert Putnam’s book of the same name. Like Putnam we believe in the essential?value of civic engagement?to heal and fuel societal progress.?Community-based organizations, whether formal incorporated groups and charities or the less-formal, grassroots types, are at the centre of the solutions to many of the issues that hold us back from being the city we all want and deserve.?

Giving well and participating too are our best tools to ensure a place where everyone belongs.

Read our full annual report here.